Lewis And Clark : The United States

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson had Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an arduous mission. Their mission was to explore the west side of Mississippi, because the United States had bought the land in the Louisiana Purchase. The long journey required Lewis and Clark to overcome many obstacles, such as mountains and Native tribes that were unfamiliar to them.

The expedition that Lewis and Clark had been on was a trip to the Pacific or the west. The President at the time was Thomas Jefferson and he wanted to explore and expand his country after receiving Louisiana from the French. So Jefferson asked his personal secretary, whose name was Meriwether Lewis to go on a journey along the Missouri River from St. Louis. Lewis. Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774 in the colony of Virginia and he was an explorer, soldier, and a public administrator. But Lewis did not just agree to the expedition he wanted his best friend to come with him on the expedition and his name was William Clark. William Clark was born on August 1, 1770 only four years younger than Lewis and he was also from the colony of Virginia. He was explorer and a soldier as well as Lewis but he was a Indian agent and a territorial governor. And when they decided to leave on their journey they had about 40 members in their group including a man by the name York. York was a slave that they brought along on the trip for the hard and manual labor that they had to do on the expedition.

Lewis had a very interesting life and he showed it in a countless number of ways. According to Bio.com, Meriwether Lewis was born near Ivy, Virginia, on August 18, 1774 (“Meriwether Lewis”). Before he led the expedition, Meriwether was

They slowly made their way up river with their crew spread out on three boats at the start of this expedition. On slow days they covered four miles and on a good day they covered up to twenty miles. On an average it was about ten miles covered a day. The two captains divided their duties. Clark stayed on the keelboat and managed the men, compass readings, and the distance traveled. Lewis went ashore with his dog almost every day to gather plants, take soil samples, and taking note of the good sites for future settlements. By June 26th, they had traveled forty-three days and four hundred miles. By July 21st, they had traveled six hundred forty miles. One of the first Indian tribes they encountered was the Oto Indian tribe. Instructions from President Jefferson were that they would make friends with the Indians. Lewis and Clark were very careful in advising them that their land now belonged to the United States. After leaving the Oto Indians, the

The expedition of Lewis and Clark was a landmarking event in American history, but its significance goes beyond just the land they discovered.The Lewis and Clark Expedition was put forward so the two would be able to see and map out western America in search of new trade routes and passages. Lewis and Clark would have doubtfully survived had it not been with the aid of the Indians they met on their travels. Upon their controversial meetings with several Indian groups, Lewis and Clark were not respectful to the Americans they met on their journey. The controversial messages behind the peace metals, the reference to the Indians as “children”, and the physical

In May of 1804, two men set out on an important journey that would take them across the country and discover new land, but none of it would have been possible without the aid of one woman. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was planned by Thomas Jefferson, in order to explore the unknown in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, and also to find a water route across the continent. Along the way the group of men met a quiet native, named Sacagawea, whose impact would later have a large effect on the success of their important journey.

Exploration has always been a central theme in the development of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, made the government more eager to expand west. The newly acquired lands were in need of exploration. A team needed to be established to survey and document the new territory. The Lewis and Clark expedition would answer the unknown questions of the west. The expedition would not have been successful without the leadership, determination, discipline of the Corps of Discovery, and the cooperation of the Native Americans. President Jefferson wanted the leader to have the same passion and intensity toward the discovery of the west as he possessed. Jefferson hand-

In this country’s great history, there have been many important expeditions, discoveries, and wonders. One of the most famous and important expeditions in this country’s history is that of Lewis and Clark. Within their great journey, the two men met countless obstacles, met many new and intriguing cultures, and saw some of the most incredible land that God had ever made. After the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead an expedition on a journey to explore the headwaters of the Missouri River and find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River. By August 31, 1803, Lewis and his party were under way down the Ohio River to meet up with Clark and his group. Together, their group, known as the Corps of Discovery, departed from Camp DuBois near Wood River, Illinois, on May 14, 1804, and proceeded up the Missouri River using a keelboat and two pirogues. By late fall, the party reached the Knife River Indian Villages near present day Washburn, North Dakota. There they built Fort Mandan and spent a

First, on our journey we began near St. Louis to make our way west and pass through the continental divide to reach the Pacific Coast. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned us on the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase. We were to explore and to map the newly acquired territory worth 15,000,000. We had to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local Native American tribes which we succeeded in .

In fact, the Expedition had been so momentous in American History in that not only does the Expedition ultimately realize the aforementioned colonial dream to find a route to connect the Atlantic to the Pacific , but the overall magnitude of the expedition’s significance ultimately puts the Louisiana Purchase as well as other accomplishments of Jeffersonian presidency, into perspective. Thus, by further exploring the revolutionary context of the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1803, in addition to analyzing the central figures of the Expedition, we can better observe the profound impact the Corps of Discovery has brought upon to better define the American national

Hostile Indians were one of the many hardships Lewis and Clark had to face on their expedition. Although many of the native tribes were friendly and willing to help, a few were not. The Teton Sioux tribe

The changes brought on by these new explorers were vast ranging from depletion of local population due to unfamiliar European diseases to new settlements to increased harvesting of resources. There were also treaties made with the native Indians for land or goods. Still seeking the Northwest Passage, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began an expedition to the Oregon coast in 1804. While still failing to find that passage, they do explore more of the west and PNW than anyone up to that time. Among journals of native plants, native people, and many maps that opened the way for settlers, Lewis and Clark opened the way for trade with their revelation that the

For the United States the Lewis and Clark expedition was significant because this was the first journey to cross the western part of the United States all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark explored the newly attained lands from the Louisiana Purchase and established a U.S. presence. To the Native Americans this expedition was the beginning of an end. Their lives would change forever by their contact with the fur traders, soldiers, and missionaries that follow in the wake of the Lewis and Clark

Since they had so many men, they could all split up into small groups to cover more ground to be able to document it for Jefferson and the rest of the United States. Colter unfortunately showed another side to himself a few weeks after the group set off. Sergeant John Ordway was given command while Lewis and Clark left to finalize their supplies needed for the journey. Colter disobeyed Ordway’s orders and was also court-martialed for threatening to shoot Ordway. Colter improved his attitude and they kept pushing forward and soon met one of the first Native American tribes during the winter of 1804-1805. This tribe was Mandan’s and they did not turn to violence against their the group and actually let them stay for the entirety of the harsh winter. During the two years journey, Colter was also given the title of the group’s best hunter and trapper, keeping the men healthy by being able to provide game. The men explored much of the lower Rocky Mountains and most of present-day Montana, Oregon, and North Dakota. They also became the first white American men to reach the Pacific Ocean in 1805. There they built Fort Clatsop because of the neighboring Indian tribe. The Corps of Discovery , aka the Lewis and Clark Expedition, befriended dozens of Indian tribes who helped them along their journey. Without these tribes the party would’ve died of starvation or from the extreme weather conditions,

In December 1803 William Clark established "Camp River Dubois" at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, north of St. Louis. While there he recruited and trained men, while Lewis spent time in St. Louis, conferring with traders about the Upper Missouri regions and obtaining maps made by earlier explorers. On May 14, 1804 William Clark and the Corps of Discovery left Camp River Dubois, and were joined by Meriwether Lewis in St. Charles, Missouri. The party numbered over 45, and included 27 young, unmarried soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter, and Clark's Black slave York. An additional group of men, engagés, would travel only to the Mandan country for the first winter, and these included six soldiers and several French boatmen.